Now hold down the Home and Power button for exactly 10 seconds and after that release the Power button but keep holding the Home button until iTunes detect your iPhone / iPod Touch in recovery mode. Your iPhone or iPod's screen should be totally blank at this point.

Navigate to Start->All Programs->Accessories and then right click on the Notepad icon and choose Run as Administrator

Now go to File menu in opened Notepad and choose Open or simply press Ctrl+O. Browse to C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc and open HOSTS file.

Once HOSTS file is opened, copy-paste the following line at the end of file as shown in the screenshot below

74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com

Now again go to File menu and choose Save or press Ctrl+S.

For Mac Users:

Click Go->Go to Folder and then enter path /etc

Now open HOSTS file with TextEdit and add the following line with at the end of the file as shown in the screenshot below.

74.208.105.171 gs.apple.com

Now go to File and choose Save As, uncheck If no extension is provide, use .txt and save the HOSTS file on your desktop.

Now replace the original HOSTS file with the one you just saved on your desktop. Incase you are prompted for the password, just enter it and click OK.

Once you have successfully edited your HOSTS file, open iTunes and click on the name of your device from the sidebar menu.

On the summary page, hold down the SHIFT key on keyboard and press Restore button. You will be asked to choose the firmware file you want to restore, choose the respective IPSW file you downloaded in step 1. If you are a Mac OS X user, use the ALT+Restore combo to choose the firmware file.

Now iTunes will restore the firmware files on your device. Your iPhone screen will show you the restore progress. Just incase iTunes throws errors with code 1015, 1013 or 1011, just ignore them. Once the restore process is completed, proceed to the step below.

TIP: If iTunes throw error 1015 during the restore process, use the instructions here to fix the error.

*Download Recboot, it is a free utility for Windows and Mac users which allows you to force your iDevice to exit from recovery mode with a single click. Click on the Exit Recovery Mode button to restart your device.

Once you have downgraded to iPhone OS 3.1.3 or iPhone OS 3.1.2, use the following tutorials to jailbreak and unlock your device:

your details

Hi Wolverine,I have mbp “A” 10.6.6. with itunes 10.1.1 and my wife accidentally upgraded the ipod touch 3G (German version: MC011FD) to 4.2.1.The ipod is supposed to run on the old mbp “B” 10.4.11 with itunes 9.2.1I tried downgrading the ipod touch to 3.1.3 with both mbps but I never got past step 6. Either the verification ended with the message “the ipod could not be restored. This dev ice isn´t eligible for the requested build” or – if I was not online – it did said it couldn´t verify it because it needed to check with apple.Q.:1. which mbp should I use to downgrade it?2. Where am I making a mistake?(I changed the hosts, have recboot, downloaded 3.1.3…)Thanks a million!

2. do I need to be online for step 6?3. how do I get past step 6? – where am I making a mistake?(I did the hosts change, and the recboot…)Thanks a million!

i am dwngradin from 4.1 to 3.1.3 so i can use it for t mobile and i cant get passed step 2. i hve a 3g so i dnt need to do step 3 im guessin. error 1015 keeps comin up n it keeps askin me to connect my phone to itunes in which it has been PLEASE HELP

I’ve trying to get it done for last 2 days. Cant enter DFU mode power button released it enters recovery mode. And when recovering to old 3.1.3 it comes up with error 3194? Any idea how to deal with that error?

Hey! I got iPod 2G non-MC 8GB model, I got 4.1 FW and I already saved the SHSH Blobs, But when i Shift+ Restore it, it says ” The iPod could not be restored because the firmware file is not compatible” I tried this FW “iPod3,1_3.1.3_7E18_Restore.ipsw”, What’s the problem? please help me.

Yes its iOS 4.1 stock IPSW for iPod Touch 2G. You can always downgrade from iOS 4.x.x to iPhone OS 3.x.x without SHSH blobs on your iPod Touch 2G (non-MC) and iPhone 3G. SHSH blobs are necessary only when you are downgrading from iOS 4.x.x to iOS 4.x.x. e-g 4.1 to 4.0.1

I tried a downgrade as mentioned in your description. now i have the problem that i didn’t get out the phone from the recovery mode although i have recboot for windows and worked like you mentioned. no chance at the moment. my phone isn’t jailbraked or so. actual sodtware version on my phone ios 4.1do u have an idea?

iTunes error codes in 3000z basically represent communication failing or time outs. Make sure you are not using any proxy server so that iTunes could directly connect to Apple server for authentication.

I have an iPhone 3GS on 3.1.2 blackra1ned with new bootrom (tethered jailbreak). It has blobs for 3.1.2 saved in Cydia. It switches off automatically. So to get rid of switching off problem. I want to upgrade it to 4.0 not 4.1. i.e first upgrade to 4.1 and then downgrade to 4.0. Wouldn’t the baseband be upgraded if i upgrade to 4.1 and then downgrade would be impossible??? Please provide a soulution.

I couldnt find any guide for Tethered JB models so asking this question.

Directly update to iOS 4.0 instead of upgrading it to iOS 4.1 and then downgrading it to iOS 4.0. Baseband upgradation depends upon your jailbreak method. If you use PwnageTool or Sn0wbreeze to jailbreak iOS 4.0 on iPhone 3GS, it wont upgrade your baseband, so you can unlock it with Ultrasn0w later. Jailbreaking through Redsn0w will, upgrade your baseband.

PwnageTool guide to jailbreak iOS 4.0 on iPhone 3G, 3GS and iPod Touch 2G (non-MC models) can be found hereSn0wbreeze guide to jailbreak iOS 4.0, 4.0.x & 4.1 on iPhone 3GS can be found here

HOSTS file is present in every OS. So if it is not present in your PC, you might be finding it in a wrong location. If you hv iPhone 3G, skip this step otherwise create a HOSTS file manually and make sure there is no extension of file! After creating the HOSTS file, place it in drivers / etc directory!